The Accident
by Micki90
Summary: She's involved in an accident which causes a man lose his life. How will she and her friends handle it, knowing that she was partly responsible for what happend?
1. Chapter 1

**The Accident**

* * *

Summary: She's involved in a accident which causes a man to lose his life. How will she and her friends handle it, knowing that she was partly responsible for what happened?

Chapter 1 

_Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least others can learn from._

~ Al Franken

It was a cold, dark winter night in the middle of December. She was driving home from a surprise party for one of her closest friends, but had started to feel a little sick so she had left the party leaving her friends there. Even though they had offered to come with her she had declined, simply because there was no reason for all of them to have a bad night. Right?

On the other hand, she had been drinking but not nearly enough to get her drunk. She wasn't even tipsy. There was no way that one drink could have an effect on her driving. At least she hoped it couldn't.

She was driving past Karen's Cafe just like she always did on her way home. She stopped in front of a red light and waited impatiently for it to turn green.

"There isn't even anyone else on the road!" she thought out loud. "That's it. I'm not waiting any longer." She started to drive slowly past the red light but quickly started to go a little bit faster. She didn't even have time to blink when a man suddenly appeared in front of the car.

_Crash!_

It took almost 5 minutes for her to regain consciousness after the crash. At first she had no idea what had just happened. At least not until she saw a man lying on the ground in front of her car.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed in horror at the scene in front of her.

She struggled to open the car door and slowly stepped outside into the cold, trying to get to the man she just had hit, even though her head was pounding like crazy. When she finally reached him, he was just lying still on the ground, face down with his lifeless body.

"Oh my god! Sir? Can you hear me?" she asked the stranger but didn't get a response. She tried to find a pulse but when she finally found it, it was barely even there.

'_I need to call an ambulance'_ she thought.

She realized that she had left her phone at home so instead she checked if the man had one. She found one in the man's back pocket and immediately called 911.

"Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance to…um," she looked around frantically for some kind of sign to where she was. She drove past there every day and yet, she couldn't remember where she was. "…Karen's Café. It's right outside from there. It's in…" she said desperately into the phone when a woman picked up at the other end, still trying to remember her exact location.

"Don't worry, miss, I know the place. Now can you tell me what your emergency is? the woman asked.

"I...I think I hit him with my car. It was an accident and now he barely has a pulse and he isn't breathing and...Oh god…what have I done?"

"Just calm down, miss. The ambulance and the police will be there shortly. Do you know how to do CPR?"

"I took a class but..."

"That's good. Just do everything you remember from that class."

"O...Okay...I'll try..."

She put the phone down on the ground beside her and slowly tried to turn the man around so he was facing her. She then put her hands on the man's chest and did CPR to the best of her ability.

"Come on! Please, wake up! You can't die...You just can't! Come on...please..." she begged. Suddenly the man started coughing.

"Sir? Can you hear me?"

"C...Cold..." the man stuttered in a low voice, almost whispering.

"Okay...Here, you can take my jacket," she said and took off her coat so she could put it on the freezing man. "The ambulance will be here soon so just hold on," she told him.

"No...time..." the man said and tried to move, but yelled out in pain instead.

She hadn't even noticed the cuts and bruises all over his body until he pointed it out. And God only knew how much internal damage she had caused during the impact. There was so much blood...He would probably bleed to death before the ambulance would even get here. But of course she couldn't tell him that.

"You're going to be okay. Don't worry, they will be here soon..."

"Tell my wife and kids that..." he started.

"You can tell them yourself when you see them," she cut him off.

"Tell them...Tell..." he struggled to breathe.

Then suddenly everything just stopped. His lips stopped moving, his breath was like it had never even existed. He didn't even finish his sentence. She saw when he closed his eyes and heard his last breath. She knew deep down that he was gone but didn't want to admit it.

"Sir? Sir, look at me! No! Come on..." she said as she started shaking him. But she knew that it was a lost cause.

She started to sob because she knew he was gone and there was not a damn thing she could do about it. She had killed a man. Intentionally or not, the results were still the same. She could here sirens from far away so she just sat there beside the man she had killed so that he didn't have to be alone...She just sat there and cried. For him, for her, and for all the people that would be affected by this.

There was no going back now…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'_What have I done?'_ she kept thinking over and over again in her head. She could see police men and paramedics gathering around the scene, and she could hear people talking around her. She could smell gas from the car and she could even almost smell the blood from the man she had hit when the paramedics put his body into the ambulance. She was distracted from her thoughts when a man suddenly approached her.

He wore a simple black suit and tie and shoes to match it. He looked worn down, like he hadn't slept in days. But that was just the eyes. The rest of him was perfectly fine. Clothes, hair, shaving, everything.

"Haley? Haley James?"

"Ye...Yeah, that's me," she stuttered.

"I'm inspector John Theroux. I need to ask you some questions regarding your involvement in the accident earlier this evening. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Uh...I...I was at a surprise party for one of my friends but I started to feel sick after a while so I left." Haley started, trying to remember everything.

"At this party, had you been drinking?"

"Just a little..."

"What exactly is a little?"

"Maybe one glass of beer, but I don't even think I finished it…" she said, unsure.

"Okay. Then what happened?" the inspector asked while he wrote something down in his note pad.

"Excuse me, but what are you writing?" she questioned.

"I'm just taking notes of your statement," he answered without looking at her.

"Oh. Okay...um...I got into the car and…"

"If you knew you had been drinking, why didn't you ask someone to drive you?"

"I just…I just felt that just because I wasn't feeling well, didn't have to mean that all of us should have a lousy time. They offered to drive me though, I just saw that they were enjoying themselves and I didn't want to ruin their fun. And I wasn't drunk or anything so I declined. Anyway…I was driving past my work, just like I always do, and after a while I stopped at a red light. I was getting really impatient because there was no one else on the road or even around, and the traffic light still wouldn't turn green so I decided to just keep driving and that's when the guy came out of nowhere and I just...you know. I didn't have time to stop. I swear it was an accident."

"I believe you but I still need you to come down to the station, okay?"

"Yes of course, but could I please just call my husband first and let him know where I am?"

"Yeah, sure. You can use my phone," said the inspector and handed it to her. "I'll be right over there," he said and pointed to one of the police cars. When he had left, Haley started dialing Nathans number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Nathan?"

"Haley? Is that you?" he practically yelled, but that was only because the music was so loud at the party.

"Yeah...It's me."

"Are you okay? Did you come home alright?"

"Actually no..." Haley started to feel nervous about what she had to tell him. How do you tell the man you love that you have killed someone?

"What do you mean no?" Nathan asked worried.

"I was sort of in an accident and I..." she was having trouble finding the right words. Then again, are there even any right words? She doubted it. "I hit someone, Nathan. With our car."

"What?! Are you okay?"

"I just have a few cuts and bruises but I'm going to be fine but the man that I hit..."

"What about him?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"He...he died, Nate." The words felt like a punch in the stomach for the both of them.

"He what?" was all he could say.

"He's dead. The police wants me to go down to the station so maybe you could meet me there? I really need you right now...Please?"

"Yeah...Of course I'll be there. I'll go right now."

"Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too. Always."

"And forever," she said before hanging up the phone.

"Are you ready?" she heard the inspector say.

"Yeah…" was all she said and walked her way to the police car.

"Good. Let's go," he said and opened the door for her so she could get in. Then he did the same for himself and then they slowly drove off to the station in silence.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where the hell are they?" Nathan said out loud, impatient. He had been waiting at the police station for 10 minutes now, along with his brother Lucas who was also Haley's best friend, and their friends Brooke and Peyton. Nathan was getting worried. He had talked to Haley a half an hour ago and she still wasn't here. And it's not like Tree Hill was a very big place. But maybe he shouldn't be so surprised considering that he probably broke a few speeding rules trying to get there. Scratch that, try _every _rule there was. And it wasn't even his own car he had used.

"She'll be here soon," Lucas said, trying to calm his little brother.

That was Lucas, always trying to be the rational one, even when he was a complete wreck on the inside.

"I just can't believe it," was all Nathan could say, sitting down.

"None of us can."

"30 minutes."

"What?"

"30 minutes ago we were at the party, having a good time and look at us now. We are waiting for Haley to come down to the police station because she killed a man. How twisted is that?"

"It's going to be okay Nate," Brooke soothed.

"How can it?"

"It just is."

Nathan turned to look at the door so he could see the exact moment Haley walked in and about a minute later there she was, followed by two police officers.

"Haley!" Nathan exclaimed and ran over to his wife with the others not far behind.

"Nathan! I'm so glad you came!" Haley said and ran right into her husband's waiting arms. She never wanted to let go but when she saw the others, she went to hug them to.

"How are you feeling?" Peyton asked.

"I've been better..."

"I am so sorry..." Lucas said, holding his best friend in his arms.

"It's not your fault Luke. It just happened."

"Well, it shouldn't have."

"You're right. It shouldn't have but it did so if you want to blame someone then you should blame me."

"That's not what I said."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it."

"We should really go now. The chief wants to talk to you," inspector Theroux said from behind her.

"Okay. You'll be here when I get back?" she asked and turned to Nathan.

"Of course I will," he reassured her and gave her a kiss.

"Let's go," the inspector said and showed Haley the way to a interrogation room where she sat herself down in one of the chairs and waited for the "chief" to get there.

* * *

Meanwhile, the others sat outside the interrogation room, waiting for the interrogation to be over. Nathan noticed that the inspector from earlier come out from one of the rooms so he got up from his chair and went up to ask him the one question he had wanted to ask for a while now.

"Is Haley going to be arrested?" he questioned, getting straight to the point.

"And you are?" inspector Theroux asked without bothering to look up.

"I'm her husband," Nathan answered annoyed.

The inspector looked up and met his gaze. "Of course. Well...I can honestly say that I don't know right now. I doubt that if the accident really was an accident then I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about."

"If? My wife is not a killer."

"Well, if that's the case then she is probably not going to be arrested but there might be a trial."

"A trial?

"Yeah. The family of the man that was killed could sue or they might try and get Haley arrested."

"This is just a nightmare..." Nathan said, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sure that everything is going to be fine, son. Listen, I need to do some paperwork but if you need anything then don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks."

The inspector walked away to his desk and Nathan went to the other direction and sat down on his chair. Again.

"So after you hit him with your car, what did you do next?" the chief of police Patrick Johanssen asked.

"I was unconscious for a few minutes but when I woke up, I opened the car door and went to check on him and when I saw that he wasn't moving I called an ambulance." Haley explained.

"What happened then?"

"The lady I talked to asked me if I could do CPR and I told her that I could since I had taken a class. So I just put the phone down and I did it. The man he...he woke up for a while but he knew that the ambulance wouldn't get there in time so he told me to tell his family something."

"Something?"

"He, um, died before he had the chance to say what he wanted to say."

"Okay. Is there anything else you can tell us about what happened?

"I don't think so. Can I just ask who the man was? That I hit?"

"I don't know if that's a very good idea..."

"Please...?"she begged.

The chief sighed. "His name was Peter Black. He was 42 years old and had a wife and two kids.

"Great..." Haley said, feeling even worse now if that was even possible.

"We recently found out that he was on some kind of medication, so he probably didn't even think twice before he stepped out on the street, which means that what happened is not entirely your fault," he told her.

"But it is! I was the one who decided to drive even though I had been drinking. I was the one who kept driving even though I knew it was a red light and I was the one who hit him with my car so he died. So if you want to blame anyone then blame me and not the man who just lost his life!" Haley yelled.

"Okay, just calm down. As far as we know, what happened was only an accident and we can't hold you for that so you are free to go. For now."

"You're letting me go?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes. I'm going to go call the family now and let them know what happened. I suggest that you go back to your place and get some rest. You have to stay in Tree Hill so you can't take any trips anywhere."

"Don't worry. That won't be a problem..."

"Good. I call you tomorrow and we'll see where we go from there," he said, getting up and opened the door so she could step out.

"Do you think that the family is gonna go to court?" she asked before she left.

"I don't know. Off you go," he said, ushering her to go.

With that Haley walked out of the room and went to the direction of Nathan and her friends.

"Haley!" they all said, getting up at the same time when they saw her walking towards them.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked her even more worried than before.

"Sure..." she said, giving them the most reassuring smile she could muster. '_I might as well tell them what they want to hear,'_ she thought. "I am free to go for now so can we just go home?" Haley asked Nathan.

"Yeah...let's go," he said without asking anymore questions, since he didn't want to upset her even more than she already was.

They all walked outside to the car and when they all were in there seats they took a quiet ride home. Besides, what was there to say? They all knew that life as they knew it was officially over.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It had been a 15 minute drive from the police station, back home, not to mention a very quiet one. No one had spoken since they got into the car. Haley couldn't get her mind of the accident and she couldn't help but think what her friends thought of her now. Did they think she was a terrible person? She hoped not.

"Home sweet home," Nathan said when he walked through the door to their apartment, followed by Haley and the others.

"Yeah..." was all Haley said.

She took in her surroundings. The painting on the wall of the Riviera, the kitchen, all the pictures of all of them hanging on the walls or standing on a table somewhere. It all used to make her feel safe. Now she didn't know what she was feeling.

"Do you want to maybe do something?" Lucas asked Haley. "We could watch a movie or just hang out?"

"No, that's okay. I'm kind of tired so I think I'm just going to go to sleep..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but don't let me stop you. If you want to do something like watch a movie then go right ahead. You won't bother me," she reassured them.

"Okay, if that's what you want," he said unsurely.

"It is. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night Hales!" the others said, but none of them seemed very enthusiastic.

She gave Nathan a kiss before she left and then went to the bedroom and put her pajamas on.

* * *

Meanwhile, the others were in the living room talking amongst each other about the accident, oblivious to the fact that Haley was listening in on their conversation from the bedroom after putting her pajamas on...

"What are we gonna do?" Nathan asked more to himself than anyone else.

"I don't know, Nate, but I'm sure you'll work it out," Peyton said.

"It's not that I don't love her, because I do. Very much."

"We know that, Nathan."

"But it's still really weird. She killed someone and now she is going to have to live with it. And not just her but us as well."

"I know but think about what she is going to have to go through. Just think about school on Monday and probably by then, everyone will know what happened. She is going to have people staring at her and talking about her behind her back. It's not going to be fun or easy for her."

"Yeah, I know..."

"But Nathans right," Brooke spoke for the first time since they came back to the apartment. "I might seem like the most selfish person ever right now but it isn't just Haley who is going to have people staring at her and all that. It is all the people who are with her who is going to be stared at too. And I for one have had enough of that in my life."

"I guess but it is still going to be a lot harder for Haley," Peyton said.

Lucas who had been quiet all through the conversation was now getting more and more aggravated by the minute. So he finally spoke.

"Could we just stop being selfish for one minute? Haley is going through hell right now and all you can talk about how it is going to be for you. I mean, do you even hear yourselves?"

"That wasn't all that we said and you know it," Brooke said. "I'm just saying that even though it is going to be really hard for Haley to go through, it's not going to be much better for us. Trust me, I know how the people in school work."

"Okay. Maybe you're right but that doesn't mean that we can just ignore her so that no one will think that we're still friends with her."

"Of course not! That's not even what I said. I was just pointing out that it's going to be hard and weird and..."

"We get the point."

"Right."

* * *

Haley, who had heard everything from the bedroom, felt even worse now. She hadn't even thought about how this would affect her friends. Brooke was right. Damn it! Why did this have to happen?

She heard a door closing so she figured that it was probably her friends leaving, so she decided to go to bed before Nathan came in. The last thing she wanted was for Nathan to find out that she had been listening in on their conversation, especially since she had told him that she was going to sleep. All though she was really tired, she doubted that she was actually going to get some sleep tonight.

It took about 5 minutes before Nathan came to bed. When he did he thought that Haley was indeed asleep but he was wrong. But of course he didn't know that so he just sat there, on the bed, thinking. _'If you need anything just call'_ Nathan remembered Lucas saying before he had left earlier. _'It's going to be hard' _Brookes words echoed in his head. _"I killed someone."_ Those were the words that stuck. Haley saying that she killed a man.

'_God. I can't do this anymore. I need to get out of this room, from...'_ Nathan stopped in his thoughts. _'From her.' _With that, Nathan left the room, left Haley, just left...

* * *

'_He has been gone for over an hour'_ Haley thought. She got up from bed to see if Nathan was even still in the apartment. She took a hold on the doorknob and opened the door to the bedroom.

'_There he is'_ she thought. She could see him lying on the couch. Sleeping. _'God, he doesn't even want to sleep with me anymore. This is just a nightmare…' _Haley thought. She didn't see the point on waking him so instead she just went back to bed and tried to sleep. Again.

* * *

The next morning Haley woke up at 5.30. _'Wow. A total of 30 minutes of sleep'_ she thought. She heard someone walking into the bedroom and since it was probably Nathan she pretend to still be a sleep. Again.

She could feel his body close to her when he crawled back into bed and pretending that nothing was wrong. _'He actually came back to bed just to keep me from noticing that he hasn't been sleeping next to me.'_ Not that she could actually say anything. At least not yet, so she just laid there with her thoughts just like Nathan did.

It wasn't until it was 9.00 o'clock sharp before either Haley or Nathan made a move to say something or getting up. However when the phone rang, Haley was forced to move.

She picked up the phone but didn't recognize the caller ID so nearly decided to ignore the call, but then remembered that they were going to call from the police station today so she decided against it and picked up instead.

"Hello?"

"Haley? This is inspector Theroux," the voice on the other line said.

"Oh. Hi."

"Listen, we really need you to come down to the station, so if you could come here as fast as you can then that would be great," he told her.

"Um...Yes, of course. I just need to make myself ready but I can probably be there in about 45 minutes?"

"Sounds good. See you then," he said and ended the call.

"Who was that?" Nathan asked after Haley had hung up the phone.

"That was the inspector. He wants me to come down to the station," she told him.

"Oh, did he say what it was about?"

"No, just that it was urgent," she said and started gathering some clothes together that she could wear.

"Do you want me to come with?"

"No, that's alright. I probably won't me gone that long anyway..."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

With that Haley went into the bathroom to get dressed and about 20 minutes later, she was out the door.

* * *

Haley got to the station a little bit earlier then she had thought she would. She went right up to the reception and asked for inspector Theroux.

"He'll be here in a few minutes," was all the police man said.

"Okay. Thanks."

"Haley?" she heard someone say from behind her and when she turned around she saw that it was the inspector.

"Inspector," Haley greeted with a nervous smile.

"Thanks for coming down. The chief wants to talk to you again."

"I figured as much."

Haley followed the inspector to one of the interrogation rooms.

"Miss James? Nice to see you again," chief of police Johanssen said, shaking her hand.

"You too. And actually it's Mrs," she told him.

"Right. I heard you were married."

"If you don't mind me asking but what am I doing here?"

The chief smiled. "Right to the point. I like that. Why don't you sit down?" She did as she was told. "Well, we have talked to the family of the man you...you know."

"Killed."

"Right. Anyway, we were able to convince them that there was no point going to court because this was after all an accident like you said, which we have now confirmed, and also considering the fact that the man was on medication at the time of the accident, they wouldn't have much of a case."

"Oh, thank God."

"But the matter of your punishment is still there. If you pay 10 000 dollars to the family and do 300 hours of community service then you don't have to go to court or go to jail."

"Really? That's great! I'll take it, thank you so much!

"Don't thank me yet. We'll see if you feel the same way after you've done your community service."

"I'm sure I will. So I'm free to go now?"

"Yes, you are free to go. Go home and tell you husband!"

"Thank you so much!" she said, shaking both his and the inspectors hand once more before she left. She was practically jumping out of joy but before she could leave the chief had something else to say.

"Mrs. James! I hope I'll never see you here again," he said in a joking matter, but you could tell that he was being serious.

"That makes two of us!" was all she said before she ran home to tell her husband the good news.

* * *

"Nathan!" she yelled when she came in through the front door of their apartment. "Oh, you're all here!" she said when she noticed that they weren't alone. Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, Karen, Deb and even Dan were there.

"Yeah, Nathan told us that you were down at the station so we came right over to hear what they said," Lucas explained.

"Oh. Okay, well then I can happily tell you that the family is not going to court and I am not going to jail!"

"That's great! Nathan said and gave Haley a hug. Actually each and every one of them came up and hugged her.

"Yeah it is. But I do however have to pay 10 000 dollars to the family and I know that we don't have that kind of money but I'll figure something out. I also have to do 300 hours of community service but it doesn't matter, anything to keep me away from jail."

"Of course, we will figure something out."

"And we will help," Brooke added.

"Thanks guys."

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked immediately when he saw Haley's sad expression.

"I just can't stop thinking about the man's family, I feel so bad for them."

"Yeah..."

"And there is also the fact that school is tomorrow."

"Don't worry. Even if the rest of the school treats you badly, you still got us," Peyton told her.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

But that didn't really make her feel any better. She still didn't want to go and neither did the others.

Haley kept going over the others conversation from last night in her head. There was on sentence that stuck _'She killed someone and now she is going to have to live with it.'_ Those were the truest words she had ever heard.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was now Monday morning and it was time to go to school again. Haley really wasn't up for it but she knew that she eventually had to go back so it might as well be now.

"Haley! Are you ready"? Nathan called from the other room interrupting Haley's thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm almost done," she called back.

'_Nathan…'_ Haley thought. Last night had been another night that he had left her alone in their bed to go sleep in their couch instead. _'In other words, he'll go to school with me but he won't sleep with me. That's just great.'_ Haley took her bag from the closet and then went to meet her husband outside where he was waiting for her.

"You ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." she said and grabbed her jacket and her things.

Since they didn't have a car anymore they walked in silence to school, wrapped up in their own thoughts. They both wondered how their day was going to be but they knew that however it would turn out, it was not going to be a pleasure.

* * *

When they got to school about 20 minutes later they immediately saw people staring and pointing at them, but thankfully they also saw their friends heading straight for them.

"Hi guys!" Brooke greeted them.

"Hey."

"How are you holding up?" Lucas asked Haley.

"Pretty much the same only now the whole school treats me like America's most wanted."

"It's not that bad."

"Actually it's worse. But thanks for asking."

"It's what I do. Anyway, we should get to class. It starts like in 5 minutes."

"Okay, let's go."

They five of them walked their way through the halls of Tree Hill High with even more people staring and pointing at them. That was at least until they heard a very familiar voice behind them.

"Scott!"

The five friends turned around and saw coach Whitey Durham standing in front of them.

"Coach," Lucas and Nathan said at the same time.

"I need to talk to you."

"Sure," they both said and making their way towards the coach.

"Not you two idiots! The Mrs!"

When Haley realized that the coach was talking about her she walked up to him a little confused.

"But coach, I have class. If I go with you then I'm going to be late."

"Then you'll be late," was all Whitey said and left the hallway, forcing Haley to go after him.

"I'll just see you guys later," Haley said before she left, leaving Nathan and the others confused behind.

* * *

"What could Whitey want with Haley?" Nathan asked Lucas on their way to class.

"I don't know but I'm sure Haley will tell us later. Right know we have class," Lucas answered and opened the door to one of the classrooms.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Scott", said the English teacher. "Both of you."

"Yeah, whatever," Nathan said.

"Where is Haley?"

"Whitey wanted to talk to her," Lucas answered.

"Okay, then we are just going to have to begin without her. So..."

* * *

Meanwhile Haley was now in Whitey office looking nervous which Whitey noticed.

"There's no need to be nervous, darling," he said.

"Okay...So why did you ask me to come?"

"First of all, I don't ask, I tell and second of al,l I wanted to know how you've been since the accident."

"Oh. Well I'm happy that I don't have to go to jail but I also feel really...guilty."

"That's understandable."

"Yeah..."

"And how is Nathan and your friends handling it?"

"I'm not sure...I heard them talking a few nights ago and they said that it was going to be really hard, not just for me but for them as well. So that kind of made me feel even worse."

"I'm sure they will be fine."

"I don't know. Nathan is really freaked out. He won't even sleep in the same bed as me anymore. He just goes and sleep on the couch when he thinks I'm asleep," she confided.

"I'm sure he'll get over it."

"It's not that easy. I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"Maybe it's because you have wanted to talk about it for a while now but you haven't had anyone to really talk to."

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course I am."

"Right," Haley smiled at that.

"Well if you want to go to class now, you are free to go. Just remember that if you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, coach." With that, Haley left to go to her class.

* * *

It was now lunch time and Haley was sitting alone in the cafeteria since Nathan, Brooke, Peyton and even Lucas had left her to do something else. But of course Haley had said that it was okay when they had asked. She shouldn't keep them here if they didn't really want to, right?

She saw a girl walking towards her but couldn't really place her even though she looked familiar.

"Excuse me, Kelly Clarkson? Sorry, I meant Haley."

Now Haley remembered. It was the bitch who had pushed her earlier this year after she had gotten back from the tour.

"What do you want?"

"I just wondered if you could tell me how it feels to actually kill someone?" she asked with a smug smile.

"Leave me alone!"

"Oh, feisty!"

"You got ten seconds to get out of my way or..."

"Or what?"

"Just leave me alone!" she warned.

"Fine...but it isn't over!" the other girl said and walked away in a huff.

Haley ignored the girl who she still couldn't remember the name of. All she knew was that she hated her. But she wasn't going to let her ruin her day. And neither would the other eight students who made some kind of stupid remark on her way to the next class either.

* * *

On the other side of the school there was another fight waiting to happen. But this time it was between Nathan and another student whose name was Jason Bradley.

"So Nathan...How does it feel having a killer for a wife?" Jason asked Nathan.

"I'm going to pretend that I did not just hear that."

"I can ask you the question again. How does it feel...?"

"Shut up!" Nathan told him sternly and gave him a threatening glare.

"What? I'm just stating the truth."

"You don't know the truth."

"What? She didn't kill a man?"

"Mind your own business!"

"Maybe I should just ask your wife."

"That's it!" Nathan was on his way to hit Jason hard when Lucas stopped him.

"Come on, Nate, calm down. He's not worth it!" Lucas said.

"You leave Haley and me the hell alone, you hear me!" Nathan said, pointing at Jason.

"Or what?" Jason challenged him, walking closer.

"Or I will kill you. Trust me." Nathan said and you could tell that he was being serious. After that he walked away with Lucas.

* * *

"Can you see all these people staring at us?" Brooke whispered to Peyton.

"Unfortunately."

"This isn't fair! We didn't do anything!" Brooke whined.

"I know but think about what Haley's going through."

"I know but still!"

"Shh! Haley's coming," Peyton said when she saw Haley coming from the gym on her way home.

"Hello, Tutorwife!" Brooke greeted her friend.

"Hey! What's up?" Haley asked her friends.

"Um...nothing much. Where's Nathan?"

"He still has practice."

"Okay. Wow, look at the time," Brooke said, looking at her watch. "I really have to go. Peyton do you wanna come with?""

"Sure...?"

"Okay. See ya later Haley!" Brooke said and walked off with Peyton.

"See ya!" Haley called after them and watched her friends go...somewhere. '_Okay, that was weird...No one has ever ran away that fast from me before' _she thought while she was walking back home.

The rest of the week was pretty much the same. People making stupid comments, Nathan sleeping in the other room thinking that she didn't notice, her friends ignoring and avoiding her at school, even Lucas who was the most supportive one and so on...

Haley didn't know what to do. She just wanted things to get back to normal. With the guilt of killing a man and not having any of her friends support anymore, she honestly didn't know how to keep on going.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Do you think that she knows?" Nathan asked Lucas who in return looked back at him confused.

"Who knows what?" he asked.

"Haley. Do you think she knows that I sleep on the couch and that I have kind of been avoiding her this whole week?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. She has noticed that we all have been avoiding her and I know that because I've seen the hurt in her eyes. But I don't know if she knows that you sleep on the couch which I still can't believe you are actually doing."

"I feel really bad about it. I mean, she is the one whose going through something and we are not even there for her."

"I know. I feel the same way. Guilty."

"Yeah, but I still can't help feeling..."

"What?"

"Relived. That I don't have to go through what she's going through. And also, and I feel awful just thinking this, but I feel angry and disappointed."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's like a part of me blames her for what happened."

"But it wasn't her fault."

"Not entirely anyway..."

* * *

She was going to talk to them. She had to. She was going to talk to them, right? She needed to find out if they could ever go back to the way they were before.

It had been a week since the accident and all of her friends had pulled away from her.

'_I guess I could go and talk to them now'_ Haley thought to herself.

She knew that Lucas and Nathan were at Karen's and she could just call Brooke and Peyton and tell them to meet her there.

So that was exactly what she did, and they both agreed to meet her at Karen's in 20 minutes, even though Haley thought she sensed some hesitation in their voices. But she didn't care as long as she would get them there. She took her jacket and her keys and then left the apartment…

* * *

About 15 minutes later, Haley arrived at Karen's Café and saw that Nathan, Brooke, Lucas and Peyton waiting for her.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it." Haley greeted them.

"Hey!" they all greeted back, doing their best to look as confident as they could.

"So you mind telling us what we are doing here?" Brooke asked.

"I just wanted to nag out with my husband and my friends for a night, is that a crime?" she said and smiled at them but that smile quickly turned into a frown. "Okay, that was a lie...I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what is it?" Peyton asked concerned.

"Well, I..."

"Haley!"

Haley was surprised when she heard someone calling her name from behind her and when she turned around it was none other then...

"Harry!"

"Hey, little sis! Come over here and give your big brother a hug!"

Haley did as she was told and went up to hug Harry, one of her four older brothers.

"What are you doing here?" she asked surprised. She hadn't seen them since Christmas and her family didn't usually just drop by unannounced.

"Well..."

"Hales!"

The next thing Haley knew, all her family was coming through the door to the café. Her brothers Matt and Anthony, her sisters Taylor, Vivian and Quinn and of course her parents Lydia and Jimmy.

"Hi...! What...what are you all doing here?" Haley asked, now even more confused.

"We heard about the accident and we came to see if you were okay. Are you okay?" Lydia asked concerned for her daughter.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. At least as well as you can expect."

"Good. Oh, I missed you so much." Lydia said and pulled Haley in for a hug.

"I missed you guys too."

"Nathan, it's good to see you," Jimmy said, shaking Nathan's hand.

"You too Mr. James."

"Well, for us who haven't had the pleasure of meeting your husband and your friends, maybe you could introduce us Haley?" Matt suggested.

"Yeah, sure. Siblings, at least all except for Taylor who has already met them, this is my husband Nathan, my very close friends Brooke and Peyton, who are off limits by the way," Haley warned her brothers, "and you remember Lucas right?"

"Vaguely," the brothers said at the same time.

"We're just kidding," Tony said. "How could we forget you? Our little sister's best friend, which I really hope that's all it is..."

"Very funny," Lucas said.

"Anyway...Guys, this is Harrison, Tony, Matt, Quinn, Vivian and of course Taylor who you already know," Haley told Nathan and the others, pointing at each of them as she said their name.

"Hey, it's nice to meet all of you," Nathan said to all of Haley's siblings.

"It's very nice to meet you too," Quinn said. "Taylor was right, Haley, you got yourself a hot one."

"Don't I know it," Haley joked back.

"We got so much catching up to do. Nathan, you won't mind if we steal Hales for a little while, would you?"

"No, of course not."

"Good. Come on Haley," Quinn said and dragged Haley by the arm along with her other sisters.

"Wait! I just need to ask Haley something before you go," Nathan said.

Haley got herself free from Quinn's grip and walked over to Nathan.

"What is it Nathan?" she asked and looked him in the eye.

"I thought you wanted to talk about something with all of us."

"I did but we can talk about it later..."

"Why not now?"

"My family is here, I should be with them."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We can talk later."

"Okay. I'll see you later," Haley said and gave Nathan a kiss on the cheek. "Are you guys coming to?" Haley asked her brothers.

"Yeah..." was all they said and walked out of the café.

"Mom, dad?"

"No, I think we're just going to stay here and talk to Nathan and your friends for a while, and maybe Karen if she gets here," Lydia told Haley. "We'll meet up with you later."

"Okay. Bye guys!" Haley said to Nathan, her friends and her parents before she too walked out the door.

* * *

20 minutes later Haley and her siblings were at Nathan and Haley's apartment, catching up on all that had happened lately.

"So...how are you really doing?" Mat asked Haley.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Come on Hales, don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

"You want to know a secret? I have always been able to tell when you are lying, actually we all have and you know why? It's because frankly, you're a terrible liar."

"I am not!" she protested.

"Yes, you are. Even if mom and dad can't see it, doesn't mean you can fool us. So tell us, honestly, how have you really been doing?"

"Honestly? It's been hard. Ever since the accident it feels like everyone has pulled away from me..."

"Everyone?"

"Nathan, Brooke, Peyton and even Lucas. The list goes on and on...At school it feels like I'm Americas most wanted."

"Is it really that bad?" Tony asked.

"It is. But before you got here I was actually going to talk to Nathan and the others about it."

"Huh...Well that's us, always showing up at a bad time." Harrison joked.

"Yep, that's you."

"Hey!"

"What? You said it not me."

"Fine. But when are you going to talk to them?"

"I don't know…Tomorrow maybe. After you guys have left...When are you leaving by the way?"

"What? You're kicking us out already?"

"Of course not."

"Actually, we are leaving tonight," Taylor told her.

"So soon?"

"Yeah...Some of us have to go back to college and I have a job to get back to."

"Really? So where are you working at this week?"

"Trust me. You don't wanna know."

"You're right, I really don't."

* * *

Meanwhile, as the brothers and sisters kept on talking for hours, Haley's parents were still at the café talking to Nathan and the others...

"So how's my daughter? Really?" Jimmy asked.

"I think that she's doing better now," Nathan told him. "She's been doing her community service and I think she's beginning to get passed it. The accident I mean. She still feels guilty but I don't think that's going to go away anytime soon."

"Probably not...But she is very lucky to have friends like you. Being there every step of the way like I'm sure you are. It means a lot to her, you know?"

"Yeah..." _'Great, now she's making me feel even guiltier for not being there for Haley like I should've been,'_ Nathan thought.

"Lucas. You seem awfully quiet tonight," Lydia said.

"I guess I just have a lot on my mind…"

"That's understandable. You and Haley have always been inseparable. If one of you is hurting, the other one is hurting too."

"Yeah_…" 'I wonder if anyone would miss me if I jumped off the roof. At least I wouldn't feel guilty about anything,' _Lucas thought to himself.

"Brooke. You and Haley seem to have gotten very close. Haley told me that she lived with you for a while earlier this year."

"Yeah she did. Actually it was more like I lived with her since it was her old apartment. But we got close. Like sisters…" _'Could this be any worse? I wonder if the mall is still open so I can get out of here,'_ Brooke thought.

"Good. And Peyton, the same thing goes for you too."

"Great…" But Peyton's thoughts were a little bit simpler than the others. _'Please, God help me.'_

* * *

A few hours later it was time for the James family to leave.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much!" Haley told her family, close to tears.

"We are going to miss you too Haley-Bub," Jimmy said and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to be with you and mom while you were here..."

"That's okay. It was good actually. This way you got to spend more time with your brothers and sisters. We get to see you more often than they do anyway so it was good."

"I'm still going to miss you. All of you," Haley said, turning to her siblings.

"Don't worry, little sis. You haven't seen the last of us. Besides, there are always phones and planes so we can talk and see each other whenever we want," Tony said reassuringly. "But right now I would like to exchange a few words with your husband over there," he said turning to Nathan.

"Okay...?" was all Nathan said.

Tony and the rest of the brothers took Nathan a little farther away from Haley.

"So we are just going to get straight to the point here," Harrison said.

"Should I be scared?"

"Nah, we just felt that since you are married to our baby sister, we think that we should say something."

"Okay...?" Nathan said, urging him to continue.

"Let's just say that we had a talk with Haley and if you hurt her in any way we are going to have to hurt you. Badly. Capiche?"

"Sure."

"Okay then. Then we hope that you have a wonderful life with our little sister."

"I hope so too."

"Good." Harrison said and patted Nathan on the back.

"Is everything okay?" Haley asked when Nathan and her brothers came towards her.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Matt answered. "Right Nate?"

"Right."

"Okay…?"

"Goodbye sis," Matt said and hugged Haley tight.

"Bye, Matt! Good luck in college and I better see you soon again!"

"You will," was all Matt said.

"Next time you should come to New York and come see my new apartment," Vivian said.

Haley laughed. "I'm going to miss you too, Viv," Haley said and gave her a hug.

"So I guess it's me now," Tony said.

"I guess..."

"I'm really going to miss you, sis."

"I'll miss you too, bro. Call me, okay?"

"You'll be the first one on my list," he reassured her and then went to join her other siblings.

"Our turn!" Taylor called out, grabbing Harrison in the process. "I'm going to miss you, Hales."

"We both will." Harrison added.

"Yeah, I can tell by all the phones calls I've been getting."

"Hey, the phone works both ways, you know?"

"I know but there is one problem with that statement. How am I supposed to call you when I don't know where you are half the time?"

"Well, that's for you to figure out and when you do, you can call us!" Taylor said.

"I will do my best."

"You know that everything is gonna be fine, right?" Harrison asked seriously.

"I know. I just wish it could be sooner rather than later." The three of them hugged.

"Now, on a more serious note, remember to call me if any of them misbehaves or if they aren't there for you after you've talked to them, all right? 'Cause I'll come and kick their asses."

"And remember to be careful and don't do anything that I wouldn't do!" Taylor added.

Haley laughed. "And that leaves what exactly?"

"Hm…Good point!"

"Bye, guys! Don't be strangers! That goes for all of you!" Haley said to her family.

After everyone had said their goodbyes, Haley's family left leaving Haley feeling alone again. _'I will talk to them tomorrow,' _she decided.

Haley and the other left the café after a little while and went back to their own homes, everyone feeling too weird to say anything.

'_Tomorrow…'_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

'_Finally some peace and quiet,"_ Haley thought. Her day had been hectic to say the least. In the morning she had did her community service for about three hours, then she had worked a shift at Karen's and after working about four hours, she had gone home and slept for a few hours.

"Is it 8 o'clock already?" Haley said out loud. She got out of bed and went to the kitchen to get something to drink when she noticed that Nathan wasn't home. She decided to call him and ask him where he was. She dialed the number and Nathan answered almost immediately.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi, it's me."

"_Haley..."_ She couldn't tell if he was happy to hear from her or not.

"Yeah…Where are you?"

"_I'm at Karen's."_

"Are the others with you?"

"_Yeah."_

"Do you mind if a join you? We need to talk."

'_Sure. We'll wait for you here.'_

"Okay. I'll be there in 20 minutes."

"Okay, see you then. Bye," Nathan said and hung up the phone.

"That was Haley, wasn't it?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah. She's coming to meet us here in 20 minutes."

"What? Why?" Brooke asked.

"She probably wants to talk about whatever it was she wanted to talk about yesterday."

"But you don't know what it is?"

"No idea..."

* * *

15 minutes later Haley walked through the doors to the café.

"That was fast," Nathan commented.

"I guess I was just eager to get here," Haley said.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Lucas asked Haley.

"Right to the point, okay...This is kind of hard for me but...ever since the accident I have felt like you guys among others have been pulling away from me...A lot."

"Oh," the others said at the same time.

"Yeah. And I was kind of wondering why. I mean, I know that it has been hard but I always thought that if we had any problems or something, we could still talk about it with each other. Was I wrong?"

"No! No, you weren't wrong," Nathan protested.

"Then what is it?"

"It's like you said. It's been really hard. I'm sorry it feels like we have been pulling away."

"It doesn't just feel like it. You have been pulling away. Intentionally."

"No," he tried to object.

"Nathan, I know that you have gone and slept every night on the couch night since the accident."

He looked down at the ground. "When did you found out?"

"I have known since the first time you did it. Today was the first time in a week that I have actually slept. I was awake every time you went and slept on the couch and when you came back to bed at 5.30 - 6 in the morning. Every morning." Haley told him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Just tell me if we can ever go back to the way it was. When you slept in the same bed as I and when we all would actually have lunch together at school when you guys didn't leave the second I got there or when you didn't even show up at all."

"I don't know, Hales. I just don't." he told her honestly.

"How about the rest of you? What do you think?"she asked, looking at her friends.

"Maybe. But it's going to take time," Lucas said.

"Just...just tell me what you think. Good or bad, whatever. Just say something. Yell at me if you have to."

"Fine. You want to know what I'm feeling?" Nathan practically yelled, standing up.

"I do."

"Fine. I think that this situation is totally screwed up!"

"Nate…" Lucas began but was interrupted.

"No. Haley wanted to hear what I thought so now she is going to hear it," he said, looking Haley in the eye. "I think that you were..."

"I was what?" Haley asked.

"Reckless. We asked you if one of us could drive you home because we knew that you felt sick but you said no. Even though you knew that you had been drinking."

"One glass! Barely!"

"It doesn't matter! And then you kept driving even though it was a red light."

"I made a mistake."

"Yeah. A big one that caused a man his life."

"He was on medication so it wasn't just my fault."

"You're going to blame a dead guy?"

"No. I was just saying that I'm not entirely at fault."

"Maybe not but mostly."

"Come on! Haven't you ever done something stupid? What am I talking about? Of course you have."

"I've never killed anyone!"

"No. You just almost killed yourself. Twice! And that's just two of the mistakes you have done but guess what? I was there for you. I didn't pull away. And that goes for the rest of you too."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brooke asked.

"It means that you have also made mistakes."

"Like Nathan said. We haven't killed anyone."

"You're right. You haven't and I have. And there is not an hour that goes by, that I don't think about it! But I still think that we should be able to talk about it."

"We're talking now!" Nathan said.

"Yeah, because I made you!"

"Do you know what we have been through the past week? People staring at us and talking behind our backs."

"What you have gone through? What about what I have gone through? Yesterday with my family was the first time that I didn't felt like enemy number one. They were here for a few short hours and they still were there for me more then you have been for a week!"

"You brought this on yourself."

"Whatever. I've heard what you and Brooke have to say, and since Luke and Peyton aren't saying anything then I'm guessing they are agreeing with you so I'm just going to go."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. Just like that."

With that, Haley left the café but when she got outside she heard someone calling her name from behind her. She was surprised she'd even heard him, considering that it had started to rain a lot.

"Haley!" She recognized the voice. Lucas.

"Not now, Luke!" she yelled back.

"I'm sorry!"

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?"

"No, I don't!"

She stopped and turned to her friend. "Do you know how much it hurts to have the people you love and trust the most in the world turn away from you?" Haley asked. "Because I do."

"I know! That's why I want to apologize."

"Save it!"

"No, I'm not going to save it! You are going to hear me out!"

"Why should I?"

"Your just gonna."

"Look, I have had a really bad day and I just want to go home so can we please, please talk about this in the morning?" she begged.

"Fine! But we are going to talk about it!"

"Fine! But it's raining and I'm cold so I'm just going to go." She said and turned to leave.

"Haley, wait!"

"What?!"

"I...Look out!"

Haley turned around and saw a car coming straight at her. The driver probably didn't even see her because of the rain. Haley completely froze. The car was only a few inches away when she suddenly felt something or someone pull her away from the danger, but then only just a few seconds later, everything went black...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Hey, you're awake!" Lucas said relieved when he saw that Haley was starting to wake up.

Haley took a look at her surroundings. "What the hell happened and where the hell am I?" she asked confused.

"You don't remember?"

"If I did I wouldn't have asked. All I remember is that we were talking one minute and then the next thing I knew, a car was coming straight at me. Wait...Did the car hit me? Is that why my head hurts like if someone had hit me with a baseball bat?"

"You are at the hospital and no, the car didn't hit you."

"Then what happened?"

"You hit your head on the pavement, hard, when...someone pulled you away from the car...You got a pretty big concussion."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're going to say next?"

Lucas sighed. "Probably because you're not. It was Dan who saved you..." he told her.

"Dan? Dan Scott saved my life?" she asked, incredulously.

"Yeah...I don't know why he was there in the first place but he was definitely the one who saved you."

"Wow...But he hates me. Why would he save me?"

"Hate is maybe a little too strong of a word for what he feels for you. But I don't know his reasons for saving you because believe me, I'm as surprised as you. That is something you're going to have to ask him, not me."

"I guess...So how long was I out anyway?"

"Just a few hours. Three maybe," he said, guessing.

"Oh."

"And since you're not going anywhere right now and neither am I, I thought that maybe we could talk?"

"I don't know, Luke..."

"Come on. Just a little while before I'll go get Nathan and the others so they can see you. They have all be really worried about you.

"Really? And Nathan is here too?"

"Of course he is, you're his wife and he loves you. He would have been here right now instead of me but I thought that maybe you didn't want to see him right now because of earlier...Plus I really wanted to talk to you."

"Okay. Well, I already feel really guilty and stupid so you don't have to tell me that at least..."

"Hey! You may be a lot of things but you are anything but stupid."

"Yes, I am. Because of my stupidity a man lost his life. Oh and by the way, I have a great luck with cars, don't you think?"

"Yeah, the best..." Lucas said, chuckling. "But I still don't think that you're stupid."

"Really? Then what am I?"

"Like I said, you're a lot of things. You're smart, funny, stubborn as hell, really, really annoying, but still one of the greatest people I know. You're my best friend Hales."

"You're too kind."

"It's true and everybody knows it."

"There was just one thing that you said that you were wrong about...I am not annoying!"

"You can be. Trust me."

"What else do you think I am?"

"Are you fishing for compliments?"

"Maybe…" she said, innocently.

"Fine, but I am only saying this because you're in the hospital."

"That is fine with me."

"Of course it is, you're the one getting all the compliments. Let's see…You're sweet and caring and…you were my first kiss...and..."

"Whoa! Wait a minute, where did that come from? And by the way, that is something that we should never ever talk about. Ever."

"It just came out. And it wasn't that bad."

"You're right, it was worse."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was!"

"Okay, you're right. It was." He admitted.

"Thank you!"

"Anyway…Compliments and jokes aside...I am really sorry about everything."

"It's not your fault."

"It feels like it is. I mean, if I had insisted on driving you home that night then we wouldn't have be in this situation at all. Or if I had at least been there for you when you needed somebody instead of pulling away, maybe you wouldn't be in the hospital right now. But anyway…I should go get Nathan. I know he really wants to see you," Lucas said and started walking towards the door.

"Okay. Thanks Luke."

"Anytime buddy." With that Lucas left the room, leaving Haley to wait for Nathan.

* * *

"Lucas!" Brooke said and walked over to him when she saw him coming out from Haley's room. "How is she?"

"She's awake and better," he told her.

"Do you think she wants to see me?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"I know she does. She wants to see all of you."

"Really?" Peyton asked. "Even though we were kind of…"

"Yes. She still wants to see you but Nathan should go first," Lucas said but noticed that Nathan had already gone to see Haley.

* * *

"Hey…" Haley said hesitantly when she saw Nathan walking in through the door.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Nathan asked concerned, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Better now that you're here," Haley said, smiling a little.

"Good," he said, smiling back." Haley, I am so sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not mad."

"You're not?"

"No."

"I still can't believe that I could have lost you tonight."

"But you didn't and you're not going to."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Haley reassured him.

They shared a tender kiss when they suddenly heard somebody behind them.

"Well, isn't this sweet?" Dan said mockingly.

Nathan and Haley broke their kiss when they saw him.

"What are you doing here dad?" Nathan asked annoyed.

"Just checking in on my daughter-in-law."

"Oh yeah? And since when have you started to care about Haley?"

"Since now. Son, would you mind going outside for a few minutes so I can talk to your wife alone?"

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you alone with her!"

"Nathan, it's okay." Haley told him.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. And I actually kind of want to talk to him too."

Nathan was confused but decided to give Haley what she wanted, which was to talk to Dan. He gave her a kiss before he left and went to get some coffee, leaving Dan and Haley alone to talk.

"So...What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Dan asked Haley, curiously.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well, I asked you first."

"Is it true? That you saved my life?"

"Indeed it is."

"Why would you do that?"

"You are my daughter-in-law after all, and I would hate to see my son's hurting if they lost you."

"But you don't like me."

"My feelings don't matter. Not right now anyway."

"But still..."

"What ever happened to thank you?" Dan interrupted her. "I mean, if somebody saves your life, the least you could do is say thank you."

"I was going to..."

"Well?"

"Thank you, Dan."

"Don't thank me yet. The way I see it, you owe me." With that Dan left the room.

"Unbelievable! I knew it was too good to be true..." Haley said out loud even though there was no one in the room. Or so she thought...

"Tutorwife!" Brooke said happily and jumped up on the bed Haley was in. "You're okay!"

"Brooke... Hi!"

"You are okay, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Good! Hales, I am..."

"Let me stop you right there! You don't have to apologize because I'm not mad and besides, if I hear the word sorry one more time, I am going to scream."

"So I guess it's no point for me to say...you know what, either?" Peyton asked when she joined her two friends on the bed.

"No, there's not."

"Okay! Well if you don't want any apologizes then you must want the presents that I got you." Brooke said excitingly.

"Presents? Well I do like those..."

"Here you go!" Brooke said and handed five bags of stuff to Haley.

"Wow, Brooke! This is great but don't you think that you may have gone a little overboard with all this stuff?"

"Absolutely not! I have been really selfish lately and this is my way of saying...you know what."

"You should have seen her at the gift shop. She took everything she could get her hands on," Peyton said.

"I did not! Okay I did, but I don't regret it!"

"Thanks, Brooke, it was really sweet of you," Haley said.

"Don't mention it! So I was thinking…"

"That can never be a good thing…" Peyton said.

"Hey!" Brooke said and hit Peyton lightly on the arm.

"What?"

"You're mean! But anyway…Since the nurse said that you can be released from the hospital tonight, I think that we should totally go shopping tomorrow! What do you say?" Brooke said, looking at Haley.

"Um, sure...?"

"Fabulous! Peyton?"

"Why not?"

"Good, then it's settled!"

"What's settled"? Nathan asked as he and Lucas walked into the room.

"We are going shopping tomorrow!" Brooke announced.

"That sounds...great?"

"It is!"

"So how did it go with Dan?" Nathan asked Haley.

"It went…" she answered cryptically.

"That's it?"

"It was kind of weird," she admitted.

"Weird how?"

"Just weird. It's no big deal," she said, shrugging it off.

Nathan was still suspicious, but since Haley didn't want to tell him what happened with his father, he decided to let it go. For now.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Nathan said with a smile on his lips when he saw that Haley was awake.

"Good morning!" Haley answered and gave Nathan a kiss.

"How did you sleep?"

"Good. This is the first night that I have slept really good since the accident. And you're still here!"

"Yes, I am, and I always will be."

"I like the sound of that," Haley said gave Nathan another kiss.

"Does your head still hurt?" he asked concerned.

"Just a little."

"Well, I'm going to go make breakfast and I promise you, when you eat it, all you're problems are going to disappear."

"Oh, really? We'll see about that."

"Yes, we will."

"Do you any need help?"

"Nope. You just stay here and think of me..."

"What makes you think that I would think about you, huh?"

"What else could you think of?"

"Good point."

"I'll be back," Nathan said, giving Haley one more kiss before he went to the kitchen to make breakfast, while Haley was still in their bed thinking.

'I wonder what Dan meant when he said that I owed him…' she thought. 'I have to go talk to him.'

Just the thought of going to see Dan made Haley shiver. But there was another thing she had to do that made her shiver. Okay, maybe she didn't have to do it, but she wanted to. Well, maybe not wanted but should. Yeah. Should. It was the right thing to do. She just didn't know if she had the strength to do it.

She got out of bed and went to the kitchen.

"You didn't have to come. I would have called for you when breakfast was ready," Nathan said when he saw Haley.

"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"I want to go see the family of the man that I hit. Today," she told him.

"Haley…"

"No. Don't try to talk me out of it. I have already made up my mind."

"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, they have already lost someone they cared about, and I'm not sure they would want to see the person who…"

"I know. I know that they might not want to see me, but I have to try."

"Why?"

"I just have to. I need closure."

"And this is the way you're going to get it?"

"I think it is."

"Okay. If that's what you want, then I'll support you."

"Thank you."

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

"No thanks. This is something that I have to do alone."

* * *

Haley was standing outside his house. She didn't want to see him but she knew she didn't really have a choice, so she went up the small steps and knocked. A few seconds later he opened the door.

"Haley! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Dan said, his smug smile in place.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Sure. Come on in," he said and motioned for her to come inside.

Haley walked into the house and in to the living room, and sat herself down on the couch. Dan did the same.

"Well?" he said.

"What did you mean when you said that now that you have saved my life, I somehow owe you?"

"When did I say that?"

"You know damn well when. At the hospital."

Dan pretended to think for a little bit. "Oh, yes. Now I remember," he said after a while.

"So? What did you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. You owe me."

"So that's how you get whatever you want? You do something nice for someone and then that person has to do something for you."

"In this case, yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's like you said at the hospital. I don't like you."

"Yeah, you have made that perfectly clear since day one. But what I don't get is why you even bothered to save me if you don't even like me."

"Let's just say that I like the idea of you owing me. And remember, whenever and whatever I tell you to do, you'll do it. It can be a week, a month, even a year from now, but you will do it."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then there will be hell to pay."

"Whatever. You can't do this. I'm going to tell Nathan and Lucas and whoever else wants know, because I'm not doing anything evil which is what you are all about and…"

"And what? You are going to keep your mouth shut and you are going to do whatever I say, when I say it. Don't look so worried, I'm not going to ask you to kill someone or anything like that."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

"Well, it won't come to that and you are not going to tell anybody about our little arrangement, and if you do then it's not just you who are going to pay the price." He threatened.

"You're gonna do something to Nathan or Lucas? They're your sons!"

"Tell that to them."

"I got to go," Haley said and started to walk towards the door.

"Of course. It was nice doing business with you."

"I wish I could say the same thing," Haley said and walked out the house, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Haley was now standing outside the house that had belonged to the man she had hit. It was a beautiful, big white house with a beautiful garden.

She had passed the house several times before but she never thought that she would go and knock on the door to the house which belonged to a man that she had actually killed and tell his family that she is very sorry for everything that she has caused them.

But she was going to do exactly that. She walked to the front door and knocked. After a while, a little girl opened the door.

"Hi!" Haley said to the little girl. She was about 8 years old Haley guessed and she looked really sweet. 'God, how could I take her father away from her,' she thought.

"Hi!" the little girl said.

"What's your name?"

"Michelle.

"It is very nice to meet you Michelle. I'm Haley and I was wondering if your mommy is home?"

"She is but she has been really sad since my dad died so I don't know if she wants any visitors."

"Could you ask her please? It is really important."

"Okay, but you have to wait outside."

"No problem."

Michelle went back into the house while Haley sat down on the porch. 5 minutes later a woman in her late thirties opened the door.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Hi, my name is Haley James and I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?"

"This really isn't a good time…"

"I know but it's important. It's about your husband."

"Peter?"

"Yes. Can I come in? Please?"

"Sure..."

Haley walked inside the house and saw that it was almost more beautiful than the outside if that was even possible.

"You have a beautiful home Mrs. Black," Haley complimented.

"Thank you and please, call me Lauren."

"Lauren. I also saw your daughter. She's adorable."

"That she is. I don't mean to be rude but what are you doing here? You said something about my husband...My late husband I mean," Laura corrected herself.

"I am so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault but thank you anyway…"

"Actually…"

"What is it? Oh! I totally forgot to ask. Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay, then. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Okay. This is really hard…I…I was the one who hit your husband with my car."

"What?"

"I'm so sorry…"

"I this some kind of a joke? Because it's not funny."

"No. It's no joke. I know you must hate me and you probably just want to kick me out or something but I just want to explain…"

"Explain! Explain what? You have no right to explain anything! How dare you even come to our home! You came to kill us too?"

"No! I just want to explain what really happened that night."

"I know what happened."

"With all due respect, you don't! I tried to save him, I really did. I didn't see him before I hit him. That's why I kept driving."

"You're not supposed to keep driving when there's a red light!"

"I know."

"Then why did you do it? Because if you hadn't, my husband might still have been alive!"

"I know. I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry? You're sorry?"

"Yeah, I am. I have a husband too and I almost lost him once, and if I had, I have no idea what I would have done so I know what you're going through. Almost anyway."

"You have a husband? What are you, 17?"

"That's right, I am, but it doesn't matter how old I am. I love him just like you loved your husband, so I understand what you're going through."

"You don't understand anything. I lost my husband and you didn't."

"Yes, but…"

"I want you to leave!"

"But…"

"I want you to leave now! Don't make me call the police."

"I talked to him a little before he died. He just said a few words but…"

"You did? What did he say?"

"He didn't get the chance to say what he wanted to but I saw in he's eyes that he wanted me to tell you that he loved you and that he was going to miss you. He was a little bit out of it, but I saw it. I saw how much he cared. And I'm sorry I took that away from you."

At this point Lauren was crying and Haley just sat beside her and tried to comfort her the best she could. Then when Lauren had calmed down a bit they just sat there quietly but in their minds they said everything they needed to say…

* * *

"So how did it go?" Nathan asked when he saw Haley walking into the café.

"It actually went okay," Haley answered.

"What went okay?" Lucas asked who was also there, along with Brooke and Peyton.

"Haley went to see the family of the man she had hit," Nathan explained.

"What?" Lucas, Brooke and Peyton asked shocked at the same time.

"Yeah…"

"Well…what did they say?" Brooke asked and turned to Haley.

"The wife, Lauren was upset at first. Really upset but then she started to cry and I tried to comfort her and then we just sat there not saying anything. Of course after a while we started to talk and I think that she in her own way forgave me for my part of the accident. Not entirely of course but she started to." Haley told them.

"So you got what you went there for?" Nathan asked.

"Closure? Yeah, I think I did." Haley said, smiling.

**_The End_**


End file.
